Miss World America
|
Logo of the Miss World America | |
| Formation | 1951 |
|---|---|
| Type | Beauty Pageant |
| Headquarters | Washington, D.C. |
| Location | |
Membership | Miss World |
Official language | English |
National Director | Christopher W. Wilmer |
| Website | www.missworldamerica.com |
Miss World America is the official national pageant that selects the contestant from the United States to Miss World. The United States has continuously sent a representative to Miss World since its inception in 1951.
History
During the mid 1950s the 1st-runner up of Miss USA went to compete at Miss World (1953–57). Alfred Patricelli of Bridgeport, Connecticut, was the Executive Director of the Miss World USA[1] during its existence from 1958 to 1977. From 1958 to 1961, the winner of Miss United States competed at Miss World. Then from 1962 to 1966 Alfred Patricelli organized the Miss USA World pageant annually. In 1967, the pageant was renamed Miss World USA and was held every year until 1977. During this time, Miss World USA 1969 Gail Renshaw was the first person to resign from the title of "Miss World USA" after competing in Miss World 1969 in order to get married. Also in 1973, Marjorie Wallace won the Miss World title and became the first American woman to win the Miss World title.[2] Between 1978 through 1980, BBS Productions, Inc., based in New York City, was given the franchise for the Miss World pageant where Griff O'Neil was the organizer, during this time the pageant was named "Miss World America".
From 1981 to 1991, the Miss Universe organization were the license holders, and the American representative to Miss World ended up being the 1st Runner-up of the Miss USA pageant. The Miss World Organization however wanted a public announcement during the finals of the Miss USA pageant that the 1st Runner-up would be going to Miss World, but they refused to do so. Therefore, after 1991 the Miss World Organization did not accept any more Miss USA 1st Runner-ups.
From 1992 to 1997, Richard Guy and Rex Holt (GuyRex) were the national directors of Miss World in the United States and organized the Miss World America pageant in 1992 and 1993 and a Miss United States in 1994.[3] They discontinued the pageant in 1995 but handpicked a representative from 1995 to 1997.[4] In 1998, Hirsh Wilck succeeded GuyRex and became the license holder and sent contestants from 1998 to 2000.[5]
In 2001, the Miss World organization asked Pageantry Magazine to choose a contestant for Miss World 2001 since they did not have a license holder during this year.[6] In 2002, Jean Renard and Miss World Holdings Inc became license holders and handpicked the representative.[7] They dropped the license afterwards due to legal issues with Rebekah Revels, whom they had handpicked to compete in 2002. In 2003, Bruce Vermeulen and Geoff Kearney founded the US Miss World organization.[8] They chose the 2003 representative by mail-in entry and telephone interviews and in 2004 held the US Miss World pageant. In 2005, Barbizon Modeling became the license holders and organized the US Miss World pageant in San Francisco, California.[9]
From 2007-2011 Elite Models were the license holders for Miss World in the United States and they handpicked the representative from their list of models.[10] During this time it was common to know who was going to represent the United States in Miss World a week or two before the international pageant began. Among their designee was Alexandria Mills who in 2010 became one of the few Miss World winners to have won the international pageant without winning a national pageant. It is unknown who was in charge of selecting the contestants in 1951, 1952, 2006 and 2012. In 2012, an audition process was held and its main priority was to examine the background charity the contestants had, although it is unknown who was in charge of this audition.[11] In 2013, Crown Diva (license holder for Miss California USA) were asked to appoint a representative. They ended up choosing the 1st runner-up of the Miss California 2013 pageant, Olivia Jordan, and held a private celebration ceremony in Los Angeles, California.
In 2014 in an effort from Julia Morley who wanted all national directors to hold a national pageant to select the representative of their country as opposed to only designate, Christopher Wilmer, the organizer of the Miss United States pageant was appointed as the 2015 director of Miss World in the United States.[12] As a result, the winner of Miss United States 2014 was selected to compete at Miss World because she met the age requirements of the international pageant. In 2015, Wilmer reinstated the Miss World America pageant in order to properly reflect Miss World's age and contest requirements.[13]
Competition
The Miss World America pageant was reinstated in 2015 with the goal to select one woman aged 17–25 to represent the United States in Miss World. 52 contestants are selected through state-level pageants or through state-director designations to represent each U.S. state, the District of Columbia and American Samoa at the national pageant. The contestants take part in several competitions including interview, sports and fitness, evening gown, runway, public speaking, video introduction, social media, and on-stage question to determine the winner of the pageant.[14]
Contestants
This is a list of women who have represented the United States at the Miss World pageant.
- Color key
- Declared as Winner
- Ended as Runner-up
- Ended as one of the Finalists, Semi-finalists or Quarter-finalists
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Notes:
- † Now deceased
By number of states
| States | Titles | Years |
|---|---|---|
 California |
9 | 1962, 1967, 1988, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2005, 2009, 2012 |
 New York |
7 | 1952, 1954, 1958, 1963, 1964, 1997, 2016 |
 Texas |
5 | 1971, 1982, 1983, 1995, 1996 |
 North Carolina |
4 | 1978, 2001, 2002, 2014 |
 Florida |
1974, 1987, 1992, 2008 | |
 South Carolina |
3 | 1953, 1956, 1990 |
 Virginia |
1969, 1977, 1979 | |
 Arizona |
2 | 1972, 2015 |
 Oklahoma |
1989, 2013 | |
 Washington |
1968, 2011 | |
 Kentucky |
1951, 2010 | |
 Illinois |
1970, 2004 | |
.svg.png){kind=small} Georgia |
1994, 2003 | |
 Ohio |
1975, 1986 | |
 West Virginia |
1961, 1984 | |
 Utah |
1957, 1966 | |
 Minnesota |
1 | 2007 |
 Vermont |
2006 | |
 Massachusetts |
1993 | |
 New Jersey |
1991 | |
 New Mexico |
1985 | |
 Louisiana |
1981 | |
 Hawaii |
1980 | |
 Michigan |
1976 | |
 Indiana |
1973 | |
 District of Columbia |
1963 | |
 Missouri |
1960 | |
 Connecticut |
1959 | |
 Arkansas |
1955 |
See also
References
- ↑ Miss World USA Pageant
- ↑ Miss World 1973
- ↑ The American representatives to Miss World 1981-1994
- ↑ GuyRex, license holder of Miss World 1995 to 1997
- ↑ Hirsh Wilck, license holder of Miss World 1998 to 2000
- ↑ Pageantry Magazine and Miss World 2001
- ↑ Miss World Holdings, license holders of Miss World 2002
- ↑ US Miss World 2003 and 2004
- ↑ Barbizon Modeling, license holders of Miss World 2005
- ↑ Elite Models selecting who will represent the U.S. at the Miss World Pageant.
- ↑ Audition for Miss World 2012
- ↑ Christopher Wilmer, the organizer of the Miss United States pageant was the new national director of Miss World in the United States
- ↑ http://www.missworldamerica.com
- ↑ http://www.missworldamerica.com
External links
- Miss World Official Website
- Miss World America Official Website
- Miss World United States Official Page
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